Meaningful source work is at the heart of social studies learning, but often a tall order for elementary-aged students. In this article, the authors describe the construction and implementation of a fifth grade inquiry on the Suffrage Movement using a focused version of the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint. Using source analysis scaffolds…

This report is a "Future of the Internet" canvassing Pew Research Center and Imagining the Internet Center have conducted together to get expert views about important digital issues. In this case the questions focused on the future of democracy, the problems digital technology has created and possible solutions to those problems. Pew…

While there is a rich array of community-based learning activities and approaches across the Portland State University campus, the authors assert that integrating a critical service learning (CSL), rather than traditional service learning (TSL), model in the first-year curriculum benefits both students and community partners. They advocate for…

This article outlines a semester-long advocacy project that walks students through the steps to develop a successful advocacy campaign, culminating in a trip to the state capitol to "lobby" legislators. The manuscript provides faculty with the basic structure for the project and suggests gradable assignments. The project builds on the…

Scholars have suggested that civic engagement in the United States is declining and some have argued that institutions of higher education are responsible for the fostering of civic engagement through efforts such as service learning. These opportunities may be created either through a top-down approach with student assignment to specific groups…

This equity toolkit is designed as an opportunity for school stakeholders to gauge, reflect on, and plan for meaningful youth participation in advancing more equitable and inclusive schools. In essence, this tool is designed to meet school stakeholders where they are and provide them with opportunities for reflection and planning in order to…

These days it is hard not to notice that there is an election going on. Whether glancing at a newspaper, flipping on the TV, or just walking down the street, we see ads and information nearly everywhere. In 2012, my research team's study involving hundreds of adolescents found that the mass media's increased attention to politics can contribute to…

Biography is a popular approach to history education in the younger grades, especially when teaching units of study during Women's History Month, which is March. A biography-centered approach, however, can be problematic when such lessons are not tied to any context, promoting the misconception that individuals create social change in isolation.…

This documentation is for the revised file (Version 1b) of the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS) for school year 2008-2009, fiscal year 2009 (FY 09). It contains a brief description of the data collection along with information required to understand and…

The lack of confidence the people of Nepal feel about their political process is due, in part, to the majority's unfamiliarity with, and lack of participation in, their democratic institutions. Since 1994, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has been partaking in a broader national effort to increase Nepalis contributions to their governing…

The 1978 contract negotiations between the teachers and the school board of Philadelphia were important enough to draw in four identified types of third party: government officials (notably the mayor), neutral mediators, community interest groups (representing political, financial, parental, and general public interests), and the news media. The…

This paper explores political engagement in an increasingly difficult and troubled world by focusing on how U.S. college students participate in the largest simulation of the United Nations (UN) organization in the United States. The purpose of the paper is to explore what is done in the National Model UN (NMUN) program, its impact on the lives…

The new IEA "International Civic and Citizenship Education Study" (ICCS) will investigate the extent to which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens across a range of countries. ICCS will survey 13-to-14-year old students in over 30 countries in the year 2009. The ICCS outcome data will be obtained from representative…

National Issues Forums (NIFs) were conducted for adult basic education (ABE) students in a Pennsylvania adult education and job training center. The forums provide a process of sharing thoughts and opinions about areas of pressing national concerns in an open exchange of everyone's opinion. After instructors participated in NIFs, they developed a…

This paper describes an undergraduate political science course at Indiana State University (Terre Haute) entitled "Contemporary Political Problems." Current politics, economics, and social problems are emphasized. The underlying objective is to encourage students to participate in a knowledgeable and meaningful manner in the political…